I found three meta-analyses and one report of linked studies on acupressure. All RCTs. 1) Role of acupressure in symptom management in patients with end-stage renal disease: a systematic review (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20636160). "CONCLUSION: No definitive conclusion is available. Future trials should adhere to standards of trial methodology and explicitly report relevant information for evaluation of efficacy and safety of acupressure in patients with ESRD." My translation: the studies were either done badly or reported badly, or both. No information either way 2) Do Japanese style acupuncture and moxibustion reduce symptoms of the common cold? (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18955215) Not the same technique, but the same illness... "In conclusion, the safety of Japanese acupuncture or moxibustion was sufficiently demonstrated; however, a series of clinical trials could not offer convincing evidence to recommend the use of Japanese style acupuncture or moxibustion for preventing the common cold. Further studies are required as the present trials had several limitations." My translation: no evidence of effect. 3) Meta-analysis of acustimulation effects on nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16979105) "CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis demonstrates that acupressure and ETS had greater impact than the acupuncture methods in the treatment of NVP. However, the number of acupuncture trials was limited for pregnant women, perhaps because it is impossible to self-administer the acupuncture and thus inconvenient for women experiencing NVP as chronic symptoms." My translation: acupressure may work for nausea in pregnant women. (A placebo effect was also noted, but was a lesser effect than acupressure) 4) Metaanalyses of acustimulations: effects on nausea and vomiting in postoperative adult patients. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16781643) "CONCLUSIONS: This metaanalysis demonstrated that AS is just as effective as medications in reducing NVS and that acupressure is just as effective as acupuncture or electrical stimulation in reducing NVS for postoperative adult populations." My translation: not just pregnant women...
Overall, I'd say there is a lack of information generally. Most of the literature is published in journals I've never heard of, but they are in pubmed, which doesn't accept *everything*, so maybe they're ok. Or maybe not. Certainly a lot of the papers I turned up started on the assumption that it works, and then reported correlates. However, one thing that did consistently turn up is that they are *safe*. If you're going to use a treatment with no evidence for it, I'd much rather you use one that is at least known to be safe ;)
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1) Role of acupressure in symptom management in patients with end-stage renal disease: a systematic review (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20636160). "CONCLUSION: No definitive conclusion is available. Future trials should adhere to standards of trial methodology and explicitly report relevant information for evaluation of efficacy and safety of acupressure in patients with ESRD." My translation: the studies were either done badly or reported badly, or both. No information either way
2) Do Japanese style acupuncture and moxibustion reduce symptoms of the common cold? (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18955215) Not the same technique, but the same illness... "In conclusion, the safety of Japanese acupuncture or moxibustion was sufficiently demonstrated; however, a series of clinical trials could not offer convincing evidence to recommend the use of Japanese style acupuncture or moxibustion for preventing the common cold. Further studies are required as the present trials had several limitations." My translation: no evidence of effect.
3) Meta-analysis of acustimulation effects on nausea and vomiting in pregnant women. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16979105) "CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis demonstrates that acupressure and ETS had greater impact than the acupuncture methods in the treatment of NVP. However, the number of acupuncture trials was limited for pregnant women, perhaps because it is impossible to self-administer the acupuncture and thus inconvenient for women experiencing NVP as chronic symptoms." My translation: acupressure may work for nausea in pregnant women. (A placebo effect was also noted, but was a lesser effect than acupressure)
4) Metaanalyses of acustimulations: effects on nausea and vomiting in postoperative adult patients. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16781643) "CONCLUSIONS: This metaanalysis demonstrated that AS is just as effective as medications in reducing NVS and that acupressure is just as effective as acupuncture or electrical stimulation in reducing NVS for postoperative adult populations." My translation: not just pregnant women...
Overall, I'd say there is a lack of information generally. Most of the literature is published in journals I've never heard of, but they are in pubmed, which doesn't accept *everything*, so maybe they're ok. Or maybe not. Certainly a lot of the papers I turned up started on the assumption that it works, and then reported correlates. However, one thing that did consistently turn up is that they are *safe*. If you're going to use a treatment with no evidence for it, I'd much rather you use one that is at least known to be safe ;)